BAM Learner Shares Her Experiences and Advice

“I found out about the BAM programme when it was first announced, went along to an open day and was very pleased to be offered a place following the application process. At the time, I had been at Busy Bees for 12 years and was an Assistant Manager. I knew that by completing the course I would be in a great position to progress within my role and my career.

“The trainers and supporting staff were fantastic throughout the programme and made sure we had all the information and guidance needed to complete to course to a high standard. We came to NSC in Staffordshire for monthly meetings and secondments across several departments, which was incredibly beneficial. As well as learning new skills in areas which I hadn’t had much experience in before, such as HR and finance, it was great to see the other side of Busy Bees as a company. We would often get calls from various departments at NSC asking for different documents or figures, and it was interesting to see how they are used and why they are necessary.

“I would say that the greatest skill I learnt throughout the BAM programme was confidence. As a fairly new manager, I was dealing with some challenging situations which I had never encountered before, such as managing staff performance and how to effectively interview potential employees. The BAM training team really did cover everything you could possibly need to know as an aspiring nursery manager and I hope to take what I have learnt into possibly a Regional Director role in the future.

“The best advice I could give to anyone starting the BAM programme would be to embrace the chance to build on your management experience. It’s a unique opportunity to have such structured but extensive in-house management training, so get involved as much as you can with the activities and with other candidates, as you learn as much from each other’s shared experiences as you do from the programme itself. Give it your all and I promise you’ll get a lot in return.”